By Greg Forester, Staff Writer
MONTGOMERY — Another round of work on asbestos-laden steam pipes began Monday at Skillman Village, as a work crew started the process of removing sections of buried piping in those areas farthest away from Village Elementary School.
This latest edition of steam pipe work is expected to be completed by the end of the summer, according to Weston Solution officials, who presented their plan to the project’s Community Advisory Board earlier this month and received a positive response.
Above-ground steam pipes have been removed and all that remains on the Skillman Village property are sections of underground piping, township officials said. One section is located to the east of the elementary school — known as the “spaghetti area’ — will not see work until schools finishes for the summer toward the end of June, according to Community Information Officer Tamara Garaffa.
Crews working now are avoiding pipe work on areas in close proximity to the school, she said.
”They are going to work from the most distant area, on toward the school,” Ms. Garaffa said.
The process of removing the pipes involves using a protective tent and negative pressure to prevent the release of any tainted dust during the removal process, according to officials from Weston Solutions.
The expected completion date at the end of the summer is shielded from delays, according to township officials, who said that any unforeseen circumstances could be countered with extra work crews or extra work shifts on Saturdays.
Main Boulevard remains open as a public thoroughfare, while the other secondary roads at the site remain closed.
It is not known whether there could be a future closure of Main Boulevard as a result of remediation work being done at Skillman Village, Ms. Garaffa said.
This is the second round of steam pipe removal at the site.
Weston hired a new subcontractor — Demolition and Asbestos Removal Inc. of Richmond, Va. — for this round of work, which followed last year’s removal of sections of both above- and below-ground steam pipes at the site.
